Saturday, May 14, 2016

Trans What?

Abstract Traffic Lights by Raffael Herrmann

Lately, I seem to be good at dipping into controversy. I'm putting this on the Other Stuff blog because it's a group of topics that are well covered in the Bible as to what should and shouldn't be done and what is or isn't sin. Although all of that has been as much misinterpreted ninety ways from tomorrow as it has been properly understood. And there are things that never really get discussed among the flash and boom of battle lines formed against each others' viewpoints. Toss in religion vs no religion and conversation halts. I'd like to see that change. So, we'll look at this from a different angle or two.

First of all, for what America "fondly" calls the religious right, the Bible is clear that we're to hate sin, but love the sinner. In short, if we can't say things to people without verbally whipping them, either in person or behind their back, we should shut up.

Second, for those who claim they were born that way, maybe. Perhaps a few were. There are enough conflicting studies to say it's not likely. Which makes the variations all more matter of choice than forced, for most.

Bruce/Caitlyn Jenner was called Woman of the Year for "coming out". But this "woman" retains all his male plumbing and says that he's still attracted to women. How does that make him a her? It sounds more like a dress-up fantasy. Or possibly a way of avoiding a life he can't control and doesn't like. So, create a whole new persona and lifestyle. Either way, I have a hard time understanding how running that hard away from life can be considered brave. And, more so, how that much revulsion for being built a certain way isn't something that needs psychological help rather than surgery and makeup.

For some time, now, the Democrats have said that the Republicans and conservatives have waged a war on women. Yet, it's the Democrats who have created a scenario where men dressed as women can merely say they "identify" as a woman and waltz into women's restrooms and locker rooms. Making it easy for sexual predators. Which makes me wonder if liberalism doesn't carry with it an element of stupidity, insanity, or both. Maybe genetic. How does one prove one really identifies as a woman and still keep "the family jewels"?

For millennia, men and women have been going to the bathroom and dressing room separately, for the protection and privacy of women. So, the Democrats have now announced that schools who don't open bathrooms to transgender students will lose funding. Which brings me to my next question. The educators seem to be saying very little, perhaps to show their intelligence. Or, perhaps, to avoid removing all doubt. But the girls who have to live with this, along with their parents, are loudly protesting. But the government says their thoughts and sense of safety don't count?

There's, perhaps, another question. By using educational funding as leverage to force the bathroom/locker room policy, politicians are willing to harm the education of all students. Including those the policy is supposed to help. Does that make sense? Is it another example of federal impropriety? Do states' rights matter to them? Whether we consider the US as a democracy (majority rule) or a republic (constitutional limitation of government), the government's actions sound like drastic overreach. Especially when they use racial equality laws as a foundation for creating trans rights. There are two huge differences:

There is no question that race is a situation from birth. There are all sorts evidences of that, right down to DNA. And we can say that anything physical about a person will be equally evident from birth. Can the same be proven for trans tendencies?

In bringing about greater racial equality, it wasn't at the expense of creating a potentially more dangerous situation for American women. No, not from those who are genuinely in some way trans-something. But from the sexual deviants who will see this as a way to get in places and situations we've created laws to keep them out of.

Up until this millennium, those who changed gender identity were, at best, indulging in either play or fantasy. At worst, mentally aberrant. In the case of the latter, psychologists and psychiatrists would try to help get them back to reality. Yes, there are ideas and thinking that have changed over time. The earth is round, medication can help a variety of health issues. But in just eight of the sixteen years in this millenium, we've gained so much "wisdom" that thousands of years couldn't previously give us? Are we really that arrogant and dead set on self that we think we're smarter than thousands of years of people?

One final thought. Trans-something has been around for awhile. As have a variety of unique statuses from artists to writers to beatniks, skin heads, gangs, and hippies. The new bathroom policy is intended to make trans people inclusive. But doesn't a choice to be different come with a voluntary decision tho be different and exclusive? Yes we all need to be treated with respect, but does that have to be at everyone else's expense?